Richard Norton-Taylor | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/profile/richardnortontaylor
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018Sun, 18 Feb 2018 05:43:27 GMT2018-02-18T05:43:27Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2018The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Murder in Hampstead: did a secret trial put the wrong man in jail? – podcasthttps://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2018/feb/16/in-hampstead-did-a-secret-trial-put-the-wrong-man-in-jail-podcast
<p>New evidence shows that an MI6 informant convicted of a notorious murder may be innocent, but due to a gagging order, his case cannot be heard</p><p>• <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/25/murder-in-hampstead-did-secret-trial-put-wrong-man-in-jail-allan-chappelow">Read the text version here</a></p><p><strong>Subscribe via <a href="https://audioboom.com/channel/guardian-long-reads">Audioboom</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-guardian-long-read/id587347784?mt=2">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/theguardianlongread">Soundcloud</a>, <a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/GuardianAudiolongreads/">Mixcloud</a>, <a href="https://www.acast.com/longread">Acast</a> &amp; <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/guardianuk/guardian-audio-edition">Sticher</a> </strong><strong>and join the discussion on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuardianPodcasts/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/guardianaudio">Twitter</a></strong></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2018/feb/16/in-hampstead-did-a-secret-trial-put-the-wrong-man-in-jail-podcast">Continue reading...</a>CrimeEspionageMI6SexFri, 16 Feb 2018 12:00:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2018/feb/16/in-hampstead-did-a-secret-trial-put-the-wrong-man-in-jail-podcastPhotograph: REX/Shutterstock/Guardian DesignPhotograph: REX/Shutterstock/Guardian DesignWritten by Duncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor, read by Ruth Barnes and produced by Simon Barnard2018-02-16T12:00:46ZMurder in Hampstead: did a secret trial put the wrong man in jail?https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/25/murder-in-hampstead-did-secret-trial-put-wrong-man-in-jail-allan-chappelow
<p>New evidence shows that an MI6 informant convicted of a notorious murder may be innocent, but due to a gagging order, his case cannot be heard. By Duncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor</p><p>Lacey was not interested in the chaotic debris in the hallway, or the swarm of bluebottle flies on the stairs, as she made her way through the house at No 9 Downshire Hill in Hampstead on a warm June afternoon in 2006. But as she approached a room to her right, which was piled high with an assortment of papers, she let out a bark and started digging at the mess in front of her with her paws. What had caught the interest of Lacey, a black-and-tan German shepherd attached to the Metropolitan police’s dog unit, was a decomposing body.</p><p>The body turned out to be that of the householder: a wealthy and reclusive <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jun/20/ukcrime.sandralaville">author and photographer called Allan Chappelow</a>, aged 86. His skull had been crushed and many of his ribs broken. There were extensive fractures to his neck, which suggested that he had been strangled, and the top half of his body was covered with congealed wax and burn marks. And so began a murder investigation that remains, in many aspects, unresolved to this day.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/25/murder-in-hampstead-did-secret-trial-put-wrong-man-in-jail-allan-chappelow">Continue reading...</a>CrimeEspionageSexUK newsBooksThu, 25 Jan 2018 06:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/25/murder-in-hampstead-did-secret-trial-put-wrong-man-in-jail-allan-chappelowPhotograph: REX/Shutterstock/Guardian DesignPhotograph: REX/Shutterstock/Guardian DesignDuncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor2018-01-25T06:00:08ZFor their eyes only: the secret stories ministers don’t want you to read | Richard Norton-Taylorhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/29/secret-stories-ministers-national-archives-lost-whitehall
<p>The list of documents from the National Archives lost, missing or held back from publication in 2017 reveals the strength of Whitehall’s aversion to openness</p><p>At the turn of every year, hundreds of classified government documents are made available at the National Archives in Kew, south-west London. Many due for release are withheld or, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/26/government-admits-losing-thousands-of-papers-from-national-archives" title="">as the Guardian has reported</a>, have been lost. Whitehall departments do not have to explain why they have been retained, or where they are.</p><p>Documents held back this year include files relating to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/nov/17/archive-1992-scott-inquiry-arms-iraq" title="">Scott inquiry</a> into the arms-to-Iraq affair, a file on allegations of sexual abuse at the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/15/mi5-kincora-childrens-home-northwen-ireland-sexual-abuse" title="">Kincora boys’ home</a> in Belfast which the former army information officer Colin Wallace said were covered up by MI5, and a file on the late <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/apr/17/guardianobituaries.northernireland" title="">Brian Nelson</a>, a British army informer in Northern Ireland eventually jailed for conspiring to kill Catholics. Also withheld is a document on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/23/mi5-mi6-coverup-cambridge-spy-ring-archive-papers" title="">Anthony Blunt</a>, surveyor of the Queen’s pictures, who was granted immunity from prosecution before confessing to having been a Soviet spy. Papers are retained, temporarily or indefinitely, while Whitehall weeders conduct what are called “sensitivity reviews”.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/27/archive-files-britain-colonial-past-government">Why do archive files on Britain’s colonial past keep going missing? | Siobhan Fenton</a> </p><p>The file shows the amount of time and energy ministers and senior Whitehall officials spend on suppressing information</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/dec/01/kingsley-amis-mi5-spied-espionage-byron-wordsworth-orwell-iris-murdoch">Kingsley Amis was spied on – but he’s in the best literary company</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/29/secret-stories-ministers-national-archives-lost-whitehall">Continue reading...</a>National ArchivesEspionageMargaret ThatcherMI5Northern IrelandOfficial Secrets ActUK security and counter-terrorismUK newsLawWorld newsPoliticsFri, 29 Dec 2017 10:00:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/29/secret-stories-ministers-national-archives-lost-whitehallPhotograph: Croft/PAPhotograph: Croft/PARichard Norton-Taylor2017-12-29T10:00:27ZIt’s not just British soldiers. The whole Iraq war fiasco is back in the dock | Richard Norton-Taylorhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/15/british-soldiers-iraq-war-fiasco-iraqi-civilians-tony-blair
The judgment on British troops mistreating Iraqi civilians is unprecedented. But behind it is Tony Blair’s misleading of the troops – and the whole nation<p>The ghosts of the invasion of Iraq, which haunted the Ministry of Defence and the British army for years, have returned with a vengeance. In an unprecedented judgment, the high court ruled on Thursday that the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/14/british-troops-breached-geneva-conventions-in-iraq-high-court-rules" title="">MoD breached the Geneva conventions</a> and British soldiers had meted out “inhuman and degrading treatment” to Iraqi civilians, including beatings, and sleep and sensory deprivation. There was no evidence that the detainees were involved in any terrorist activity or posed any threat to the security of Iraq.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/14/british-troops-breached-geneva-conventions-in-iraq-high-court-rules">British troops breached Geneva conventions in Iraq, high court rules</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/15/british-soldiers-iraq-war-fiasco-iraqi-civilians-tony-blair">Continue reading...</a>MilitaryIraqMinistry of DefenceTony BlairPoliticsWorld newsUK newsLawWar crimesFri, 15 Dec 2017 13:48:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/15/british-soldiers-iraq-war-fiasco-iraqi-civilians-tony-blairPhotograph: The Al-Sweady Inquiry/PAPhotograph: The Al-Sweady Inquiry/PARichard Norton-Taylor2017-12-15T13:48:39ZOur new aircraft carrier could sink the defence budget without firing a shot | Richard Norton-Taylorhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/07/aircraft-carrier-defence-budget-hms-queen-elizabeth-royal-navy
It may not scare the enemy, but the enormous HMS Queen Elizabeth should terrify the Royal Navy. It is an expensive status symbol without a purpose<p>Today the <a href="https://navaltoday.com/2017/12/07/live-hms-queen-elizabeth-is-commissioned/" title="">Queen commissioned</a> her namesake, the aircraft carrier <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2017/aug/16/hms-queen-elizabeth-portsmouth-video" title="">HMS Queen Elizabeth</a>, the largest ship ever built for the Royal Navy. She will be followed soon by Prince Charles, who can be expected to commission the navy’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/26/hms-queen-elizabeth-aircraft-carrier-takes-to-the-seas" title="">second large carrier, HMS Prince of Wales</a>.</p><p>The carriers were described to me by a former chief of defence staff as 'vulnerable metal cans'</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/11/trident-the-british-question">Trident: the British question | Ian Jack</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/07/aircraft-carrier-defence-budget-hms-queen-elizabeth-royal-navy">Continue reading...</a>Royal NavyMinistry of DefenceMilitaryDefence policyPoliticsUK newsThu, 07 Dec 2017 14:45:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/07/aircraft-carrier-defence-budget-hms-queen-elizabeth-royal-navyPhotograph: Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesRichard Norton-Taylor2017-12-07T14:45:44ZChinese MI6 informant's conviction in Hampstead murder case upheldhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/29/chinese-mi6-informant-wang-yam-conviction-upheld-hamstead
<p>Wang Yam was convicted in 2009 of the murder of 86-year-old Allan Chappelow at his home in north London</p><p>A Chinese dissident and MI6 informant has lost a long battle to overturn his conviction for murder after two trials during which his entire defence was heard in secret.</p><p>The case was referred to the appeal court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) when a witness provided new evidence after reading an article in the Guardian.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/29/chinese-mi6-informant-wang-yam-conviction-upheld-hamstead">Continue reading...</a>UK criminal justiceLondonMI6UK newsLawFri, 29 Sep 2017 12:17:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/29/chinese-mi6-informant-wang-yam-conviction-upheld-hamsteadPhotograph: Rex/ShutterstockPhotograph: Rex/ShutterstockDuncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor2017-09-29T12:17:21ZWilliam Hoyland obituaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/aug/01/william-hoyland-obituary
<p>The actor William Hoyland, who has died aged 73, was a stalwart of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/oct/22/richard-norton-taylor-verbatim-tribunal-plays-stephen-lawrence">the plays edited from public inquiries or trials</a> that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/feb/18/saturday-interview-nicholas-kent">Nicolas Kent</a> directed at <a href="http://www.tricycle.co.uk/">the Tricycle theatre</a> in Kilburn, north-west London. The texts were realised by the great band of Tribunal Players, as we came to call them. For those that I provided, Bill played John Major in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-hearing-aid-paul-taylor-on-richard-norton-taylors-half-the-picture-at-the-tricycle-1423061.html">Half the Picture</a> (1994, about the Scott inquiry), Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-nuremberg-the-war-crimes-trial-tricycle-london-1346468.html">Nuremberg</a> (1996), the confrontational detective John Davidson in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jan/17/race.world">The Colour of Justice</a> (1999, about the murder of Stephen Lawrence), and Colonel Derek Wilford, the unapologetic Paras commander in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/apr/12/theatre">Bloody Sunday</a> (2005).</p><p>In <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/guantanamo-honor-bound-to-defend-freedom-tricycle-theatre-london-564789.html">Guantánamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom</a> (2004), compiled by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo, he “spookily” donned “the mantle and manner” of Donald Rumsfeld, the US defense secretary, wrote Nicholas de Jongh in the Evening Standard. After a West End transfer, the play was later read in the US Congress.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/aug/01/william-hoyland-obituary">Continue reading...</a>StageCultureTricycle TheatreTheatreFilmTelevision & radioTelevisionTue, 01 Aug 2017 16:59:36 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/aug/01/william-hoyland-obituaryPhotograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianPhotograph: Tristram Kenton for the GuardianRichard Norton-Taylor2017-08-01T16:59:36ZWang Yam trial: court of appeal hears from new witnesses over murderhttps://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jul/18/wang-yam-murder-trial-court-of-appeal-hears-new-evidence
<p>Fresh evidence would have had ‘dramatic impact’ on jury who convicted Chinese MI6 informant of murder after secret trial</p><p>Fresh evidence in the case of the Chinese dissident Wang Yam, an MI6 informant convicted of murder after a secret trial, would have had a “dramatic impact” on the jury in his trial, the court of appeal has heard.</p><p>A neighbour of Allan Chappelow, the murdered man, who came forward after reading a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jan/23/murder-hampstead-alan-chappelow-echr-wang-yam">Guardian article on the case</a>, told the court that he and his family had been threatened with death by an intruder after Yam was taken into custody.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jul/18/wang-yam-murder-trial-court-of-appeal-hears-new-evidence">Continue reading...</a>Court of appealCriminal Cases Review CommissionUK newsUK criminal justiceLawLondonTue, 18 Jul 2017 16:17:45 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jul/18/wang-yam-murder-trial-court-of-appeal-hears-new-evidencePhotograph: REX/ShutterstockPhotograph: REX/ShutterstockDuncan Campbell and Richard Norton-Taylor2017-07-18T16:17:45ZSir Peter Marychurch obituaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/01/sir-peter-marychurch-obituary
<p>Spy who joined GCHQ in 1948 and was director from 1983 to 1989 – turbulent times in the world of espionage</p><p>Thirty two years ago, the then director of GCHQ, <a href="https://www.gchq.gov.uk/news-article/former-gchq-director-sir-peter-marychurch-kcmg-dies-aged-89">Sir Peter Marychurch</a>, who has died aged 89, wrote an angry letter to one of Britain’s acclaimed wartime codebreakers. He accused <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Welchman">Gordon Welchman</a>, head of Bletchley Park’s famed Hut Six, of damaging national security. “Each time a person like yourself of obviously deep knowledge and high repute publishes inside information about the inner secrets of our work, there is more temptation and more cause for others to follow suit,” he wrote. “We do not expect outsiders to show any great sense of responsibility in what they publish, but you can perhaps understand that it is a bitter blow to us, as well as a disastrous example to others, when valued ex-colleagues decide to let us down.”</p><p>Welchman’s offence was to publish a paper acknowledging work done by Polish codebreakers before the second world war that contributed to the subsequent success of British codebreakers at Bletchley Park. His aim was to correct misleading passages in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-professor-sir-harry-hinsley-1145675.html">Sir Harry Hinsley</a>’s official history of <a href="http://www.historytoday.com/stephen-usherwood/british-intelligence-second-world-war">British intelligence in the second world war</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/01/sir-peter-marychurch-obituary">Continue reading...</a>GCHQEspionageUK newsSecond world warThu, 01 Jun 2017 10:35:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/01/sir-peter-marychurch-obituaryPhotograph: GCHQPhotograph: GCHQRichard Norton-Taylor2017-06-01T10:35:01ZLetters: Tam Dalyell obituaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/31/tam-dalyell-obituary-letters
<p><strong>Richard Norton-Taylor writes: </strong>I first got to know <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/tam-dalyell-obituary" title="">Tam Dalyell</a> well during the 1982 Falklands war and his tenacious questioning of Margaret Thatcher’s government over the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the Argentinian cruiser, the General Belgrano. He was also the only MP who pursued successive governments over the forced exile of the inhabitants of Diego Garcia, the largest island in the British Indian Ocean Territory, by the Labour government in the 1960s. The US was allowed to build a large US bomber base there in return for a cut in the price of Polaris nuclear missiles, the predecessors of Trident.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/26/tam-dalyell-obituary">Tam Dalyell obituary</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/31/tam-dalyell-obituary-letters">Continue reading...</a>LabourPoliticsTam DalyellPolitics pastMargaret ThatcherTue, 31 Jan 2017 19:06:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/31/tam-dalyell-obituary-lettersPhotograph: Keith Dobney/The Independent/REX/ShutterstockPhotograph: Keith Dobney/The Independent/REX/ShutterstockRichard Norton-Taylor and Steven Rose2017-01-31T19:06:19Z‘It would be bad for our interests’: why Thatcher ignored the murder of an Observer journalisthttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/farzad-bazoft-journalist-iraq-executed-saddam-hussein-thatcher
In 1990, Farzad Bazoft was hanged by Saddam Hussein on false charges of espionage. Now files have revealed why the state was so reluctant to intervene<p>The execution of the <em>Observer</em> journalist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/1990/mar/18/leaders.iraq">Farzad Bazoft</a> on 15 March 1990, ordered by Saddam Hussein, provoked outrage around the world. Yet later that same day Margaret Thatcher and her government decided not to take any action, against what ministers admitted was a “ruthless” regime, for fear of jeopardising lucrative exports to Iraq.</p><p>In memos written two years after Saddam used mustard gas to slaughter more than 3,000 Kurds and only months before he marched into Kuwait, sparking war, newly released cabinet documents reveal that trade was still the uppermost concern for ministers.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/farzad-bazoft-journalist-iraq-executed-saddam-hussein-thatcher">Continue reading...</a>IraqSaddam HusseinMargaret ThatcherJournalist safetyPoliticsMiddle East and North AfricaWorld newsConservativesUK newsSun, 01 Jan 2017 08:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/01/farzad-bazoft-journalist-iraq-executed-saddam-hussein-thatcherPhotograph: REX/ShutterstockPhotograph: REX/ShutterstockRichard Norton-Taylor and Tracy McVeigh2017-01-01T08:00:01ZSpymaster by Martin Pearce review – story of the MI6 boss ruined by scandalhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/11/spymaster-martin-pearce-mi6-maurice-oldfield
Maurice Oldfield was the ‘owlish son of a farmer’ who became a top spy. A new book revisits the man who may have served as a model for George Smiley and M<p>He was one of the first to suspect that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/04/kim-philbys-stasi-tape-reveals-secrets-of-his-success-as-cold-war-spy" title="">Kim Philby</a> was a Soviet spy, helped to keep Britain out of the Vietnam war and restored <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/mi6" title="">MI6</a>’s reputation after the scandals and disasters of the 1950s, 60s and early 70s involving enemy agents, coups and assassination plots. Maurice Oldfield, the northern former grammar school boy invited by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/johnlecarre" title="">John le Carré</a> to meet Alec Guinness before the actor played George Smiley in <em>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</em>, was sometimes also described as a model for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/ian-fleming" title="">Ian Fleming</a>’s M. Yet the “owlish son of a farmer”, as Martin Pearce, his nephew, calls him, was hung out to dry by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/margaretthatcher" title="">Margaret Thatcher</a> after smears relating to his sexuality.</p><p>This biography of the former head of&nbsp;MI6, as Britain’s <a href="https://www.sis.gov.uk/" title="">Secret Intelligence Service (SIS)</a> is commonly called, is deeply sympathetic – unsurprisingly, perhaps, since it is by a close relative. It&nbsp;is at times rather clumsily written, and the author seems naively innocent about the dirty world of spies. But he seems unashamedly so and his approach does not detract from this welcome biography of a man able to combine warm family and personal relationships with hard-headed intellectual analysis, taking the cold decisions needed to succeed in the most unaccountable and secret of government agencies.</p><p>An outsider, he challenged the Oxbridge-educated ‘robber barons’ in MI6 who resented any attempt to rein them in</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/11/spymaster-martin-pearce-mi6-maurice-oldfield">Continue reading...</a>BiographyBooksCultureMI6UK security and counter-terrorismUK newsMargaret ThatcherPoliticsFri, 11 Nov 2016 10:00:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/11/spymaster-martin-pearce-mi6-maurice-oldfieldPhotograph: BBCPhotograph: BBCRichard Norton-Taylor2016-11-11T10:00:16Z‘No regrets’ says man who aided double agent George Blake to escapehttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/22/no-regrets-says-man-who-aided-double-agent-george-blake-to-escape
<p>Spy who worked for Soviet Union while at MI6 climbed the wall at Wormwood Scrubs in 1966 with help of three former inmates</p><p>Exactly 50 years ago, on 22 October 1966, one of Britain’s most notorious double agents escaped from prison. With ministers, the police special branch and MI5 all assuming it was the work of the KGB, a huge manhunt failed to find him. While the country’s ports were watched and his photograph was displayed on television and the front pages, he was lying low in a nearby bedsit.</p><p>The extraordinary circumstances surrounding the breakout did not emerge for 25 years. Security and intelligence chiefs were as anxious to keep it under wraps as those responsible for the escape – two anti-nuclear campaigners and a petty criminal. Official documents on the affair remain secret on the grounds that their release would cause distress to individuals still living. But now, in advance of today’s 50th anniversary, one of those involved in the escape has told the Guardian that he has no regrets.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/17/brussels-spies-paradise-europe">‘Brussels was paradise for journalists ... and full of spies’</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/discovered-our-parents-were-russian-spies-tim-alex-foley">The day we discovered our parents were Russian spies</a> </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/23/shoreditch-spies-why-does-gchq-want-to-hire-hipsters">Shoreditch spies: why does GCHQ want to hire hipsters?</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/22/no-regrets-says-man-who-aided-double-agent-george-blake-to-escape">Continue reading...</a>Prisons and probationMI5MI6UK security and counter-terrorismUK newsRussiaFri, 21 Oct 2016 23:10:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/22/no-regrets-says-man-who-aided-double-agent-george-blake-to-escapePhotograph: Alexander Natruskin/REUTERSPhotograph: Alexander Natruskin/REUTERSRichard Norton-Taylor2016-10-21T23:10:00ZMike Finn obituaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/02/mike-finn-obituary
<p>My friend Mike Finn, who has died aged 79, was a well-loved government press officer who was able to win and retain the respect of hard-bitten journalists through his warmth and humanity.</p><p>Mike began his career in the Treasury in 1960, moving from there to the Civil Service Department and later, after a brief spell at British Airways, to the Department of Education and Science and finally the Office for National Statistics. To all these organisations he brought a flair for communication and a sense of the dramatic, for example hosting a press conference for a statistical digest of the second world war, Fighting With Figures, in the Cabinet War Rooms while wearing a tin hat, or organising a gathering of five Concordes on the runway at Glasgow airport to launch a new service for British Airways.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/02/mike-finn-obituary">Continue reading...</a>MediaCivil serviceIrelandPoliticsSun, 02 Oct 2016 16:50:44 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/oct/02/mike-finn-obituaryPhotograph: Family handoutPhotograph: Family handoutRichard Norton-Taylor2016-10-02T16:50:44ZSpies in the Congo by Susan Williams review – the race to build the atomic bombhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/17/spies-in-the-congo-susan-williams-review
Both the US and the Nazis desperately needed uranium … This well-researched book has shades of Graham Greene, Conrad, even Indiana Jones<br /><p>Where did the US get the uranium it needed to build the atom bombs it dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? From a mine somewhere in the US? In Canada? My guess is that not many people know, or have even asked. The answer lies deep in the heart of Africa. It was extracted from the Shinkolobwe mine in then Belgian Congo, owned by Union Minière, part of the mother country’s biggest and wealthiest company, Société Générale de Belgique. Without access to that mine, the atom bomb might never have been built by American scientists during the second world war.</p><p>Susan Williams’s last book, <em>Who Killed Hammarskjöld?</em>, prompted the UN to set up a new inquiry into<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/14/un-inquiry-1961-dag-hammarskjold-air-crash"> the death – in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia – of its former secretary general</a>. Her new, meticulously researched book has shades of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/grahamgreene">Graham Greene</a>, a hint of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/josephconrad">Conrad</a>, even echoes of <em>Indiana Jones</em>.</p><p>The moral authority of the struggle against fascism was not applied to the inequalities and injustice in the Congo</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/17/spies-in-the-congo-susan-williams-review">Continue reading...</a>HistoryBooksDemocratic Republic of the CongoCultureNuclear weaponsAlbert EinsteinCIASat, 17 Sep 2016 08:00:43 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/17/spies-in-the-congo-susan-williams-reviewPhotograph: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum/EPAPhotograph: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum/EPARichard Norton-Taylor2016-09-17T08:00:43ZTerrorism, Trident, and Torture – a valedictory dispatchhttps://www.theguardian.com/news/defence-and-security-blog/2016/jul/28/terrorism-trident-and-torture-a-valedictory-dispatch
<ul><li>And Official Secrecy and Arms Sales as well<br></li></ul><p>Alas, this is my last security and defence blogpost for the Guardian. I have appreciated your comments – both critical and supportive. However, I intend to continue to pursue the most serious issues that have preoccupied this blog in the past and will continue to confront all of us in the future.</p><p>• TERRORISM. The threat of violent terrorism will last – a generation, successive prime ministers have said. If air strikes continue to put pressure on Isis on the ground in Syria and Iraq, Isis will spread its messages even more aggressively through the internet and social media, urging followers to attack targets in the west and elsewhere. More “lone wolves” - extremist and disturbed individuals of all kinds, religious and secular - may in turn be encouraged to commit violent attacks on soft targets.<br></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/defence-and-security-blog/2016/jul/28/terrorism-trident-and-torture-a-valedictory-dispatch">Continue reading...</a>UK security and counter-terrorismCounter-terrorism policyIslamic StateTridentTortureArms tradeOfficial Secrets ActUK newsWorld newsThu, 28 Jul 2016 12:32:18 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/news/defence-and-security-blog/2016/jul/28/terrorism-trident-and-torture-a-valedictory-dispatchPhotograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty ImagesRichard Norton-Taylor2016-07-28T12:32:18ZBritain's failure to come clean over rendition is scandalous – Tory MPhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/25/uk-failure-to-come-clean-over-rendition-is-scandalous-tory-mp-andrew-tyrie
<p>Andrew Tyrie says CPS should provide parliamentary committee with information on UK role in abducting terror suspects</p><p>A leading Conservative MP has described the failure of government agencies over a decade to come clean about Britain’s role in rendition – secretly seizing and jailing terror suspects and alleged Islamist extremists – as a scandal, saying it was crucial to find out who was responsible.</p><p>Andrew Tyrie, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on extraordinary rendition, said it was essential the Crown Prosecution Service provides a committee of MPs and peers with the evidence it gathered before it decided not to bring criminal charges.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/25/uk-failure-to-come-clean-over-rendition-is-scandalous-tory-mp-andrew-tyrie">Continue reading...</a>RenditionUK security and counter-terrorismCounter-terrorism policyUK newsMon, 25 Jul 2016 11:25:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/25/uk-failure-to-come-clean-over-rendition-is-scandalous-tory-mp-andrew-tyriePhotograph: Francois Mori/APPhotograph: Francois Mori/APRichard Norton-Taylor2016-07-25T11:25:33ZCrucial fleet of global-combat frigates is indefinitely delayedhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/20/navy-fleet-global-combat-frigates-type-26-indefinitely-delayed-mod-mps-clyde-shipbuilding
<p>Type 26 navy frigates do not have go-ahead, MoD says amid budget pressures, technical problems and jobs fears</p><p>A new fleet of frigates, described as “global combat ships” designed to play crucial roles, has been delayed indefinitely, the Ministry of Defence has said in testy exchanges with MPs over huge financial and technical problems facing the navy’s surface vessels.</p><p>Delays in building the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/25/plan-build-frigates-clyde-will-go-ahead-defence-minister">Type 26 frigates</a> – a project promised by David Cameron before the 2014 Scottish independence referendum – is threatening <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/22/clyde-shipworkers-glasgow-fear-for-jobs-mod-contracts-delays">shipbuilding jobs on the Clyde</a> in Scotland.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jun/07/destroyers-will-break-down-if-sent-to-middle-east-admits-royal-navy">Destroyers will break down if sent to Middle East, admits Royal Navy</a> </p><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If true, this is a disgraceful betrayal of the Clyde shipyard workers - and a breach of the promise made in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/indyref?src=hash">#indyref</a> <a href="https://t.co/PoBvLhgevn">https://t.co/PoBvLhgevn</a></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/22/clyde-shipworkers-glasgow-fear-for-jobs-mod-contracts-delays">Clyde shipworkers fear for jobs amid MoD contract uncertainty</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/20/navy-fleet-global-combat-frigates-type-26-indefinitely-delayed-mod-mps-clyde-shipbuilding">Continue reading...</a>Royal NavyMinistry of DefenceMilitaryTridentUK newsScotlandDefence policyPoliticsWed, 20 Jul 2016 15:52:51 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/20/navy-fleet-global-combat-frigates-type-26-indefinitely-delayed-mod-mps-clyde-shipbuildingPhotograph: Ministry of DefencePhotograph: Ministry of DefenceRichard Norton-Taylor and Libby Brooks2016-07-20T15:52:51ZMilitary chiefs analysing Chilcot report 'line by line' to learn lessonshttps://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/19/military-chiefs-analysing-chilcot-report-learn-lessons-michael-fallon
<p>Defence secretary Michael Fallon gives evidence to MPs after harsh conclusions drawn over British actions during Iraq war</p><p>Military officials are going through the 2.6m-word Chilcot report “line by line” to learn crucial lessons in the face of its damning criticism of the way UK troops were deployed in the US-led invasion of Iraq, a crossparty group of MPs has been told.<br></p><p>Key problems identified by Chilcot included the failure to challenge the views of ministers and senior commanders and the dangers of “groupthink”, Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, told the Commons defence committee on Tuesday. However, he declined to commit himself when asked whether the findings of the MoD’s postmortem would be made public.<br></p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/19/iraq-war-families-crowdsource-for-funds-to-sue-tony-blair">Iraq war families crowdsource for funds to sue Tony Blair</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/19/military-chiefs-analysing-chilcot-report-learn-lessons-michael-fallon">Continue reading...</a>Ministry of DefenceMilitaryIraq war inquiryMichael FallonIraqMiddle East and North AfricaPoliticsUK newsTue, 19 Jul 2016 14:49:54 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/19/military-chiefs-analysing-chilcot-report-learn-lessons-michael-fallonPhotograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty ImagesRichard Norton-Taylor and Ian Cobain2016-07-19T14:49:54Z‘Brussels was paradise for journalists ... and full of spies’https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/17/brussels-spies-paradise-europe
<p>Richard Norton-Taylor, the Guardian’s security expert, looks back at four decades of reporting, from the UK joining Europe to leaving it</p><p>I joined the Guardian staff on 1 January 1973, the day Britain – with Ireland and Denmark – joined what we then called the Common Market, or the European Community. Forty three years later, I am now leaving the Guardian, appropriately perhaps, given the UK’s own decision to head towards the exit.</p><p>The Guardian office in Brussels which I set up was a quiet room in a small flat overlooking Square Ambiorix, close to the European commission and council headquarters. It had a phone and a typewriter, and later a noisy Telex teleprinter, which involved typing into a paper tape. After day-long, sometimes night-long, European talks, you had to wait your turn queuing for a sweaty phone cubicle in a crowded press centre.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/17/brussels-spies-paradise-europe">Continue reading...</a>The GuardianNewspapersNational newspapersNewspapers & magazinesMediaEuropeWorld newsBrexitUK newsEuropean UnionForeign policyPoliticsSun, 17 Jul 2016 11:00:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/17/brussels-spies-paradise-europePhotograph: PUBLIC DOMAINPhotograph: PUBLIC DOMAINRichard Norton-Taylor2016-07-17T11:00:39Z